Niuafoʻou (Tonga) 1989
"Evolution of the Earth" (II)
U N D E R C O N S T R U C T I O N
Issue Date |
01.08.1989 |
ID |
Michel: 149-152
Scott:
Stanley Gibbons:
Yvert:
UPU: N/A Category: pR |
Designer |
Mr. Ray Edge, Walsall Security Printers of London, UK |
Stamps in set |
10 |
Value |
T$1- Carboniferous: Ichthyostega
T$1.50 - Jurassic: Stegosaurus
T$2 - Jurassic: Archaeopteryx and early mammals
T$5 - Pleistocene: prehistoric humans, Home erectus
|
Size (width x height) |
25mm x 40mm |
Layout |
Mini-Sheet of 10 stamps, Souvenir-Sheet with 1 stamp |
Products |
FDC x2 |
Paper |
|
Perforation |
14 x 14 |
Print Technique |
Offset, multicolor |
Printed by |
Walsall Security Printers of London, UK |
Quantity |
|
Issuing Authority |
Post office of the Goverment of Tonga |
On August 1
st, 1989, the Post office of the Goverment of
Tonga issued,
on behalf their Niuafo'ou Island, additional four stamps for "Evolution of the Earth" stamps set.
The first part of the set was issued on June 6, 1989.
These four stamps show prehistoric animals including:
- an amphibian (likely Ichthyostega)
- Stegosaurus
- Archaeopteryx and early mammals
- a group of prehistoric humans, Home erectus and a goat on the background
Every stamp shows both reconstruction and fossil of the animal.
Products
Tonga did not issue any imperf stamps from this set,
the only imperfs known are genuine plate proofs, and come from the Walsall Security Printers archives.
FDC |
Monochrome Proof [1] |
Plate Proof |
 |
 |
 |
Used Covers
| Unadopted Artwork, by Ray EDGE |
 |
 |
 |
Notes:
[1]
Monochrome Proofs were done on thin card and in black and white by Walsall Security Printers of London UK,
and were used to check the design.
The monochrome proofs were, usually, produced in amount of 20, then sent to Tonga
for the officials to check.
When accepted, they were sent to stamp magazines to illustrate the upcoming new issues.
References:
- [R1] Technical details and stamps presentation:
stampedout
Acknowledgement:
-
Many thanks to fellow collector Mr. Vincent David from France for sharing a scan of the Artwork from his collections.
-
Many thanks to fellow collector Mr. Peter Brandhuber from Germany, for sharing some scans his collection.
-
Many thanks to Mr. Greg Jorgensen from Australia, who sells philatelic materials from archive of
Walsall Security Printers on the Internet under nickname tonga2, for explanations about their printing process.